Niki Nicholas Nkuna

Fatherless Child Poem by Niki Nicholas Nkuna

Safe in my tender mindBelieving the world is a play groundEvery toy for me and all in the playI, the king to direct the playAnd tell of the frolic jump or the oncoming rainstormEvery cry for me and ilk for loss of sweet and fall

Tears on the mother’s bosom Cushion under my knees on the gravel groundUnaware of the basketball and soccer play by the same fieldUnaware that both games are won on the maternal sideUnaware that in fact I’m not the king of playNor the rich king who owns the wares and playUnaware that I play under the maternal umbrella all the time

Safe in tender mindThe dawn of day yet to comeOn which there will be no basking in the sunOn which the rainstorm will come by the hind sideTo rake conscience to the horrible lightHorns will stick out of my head like a thorny bushAnd will remain so throughout the dry seasons

Mother will feel the sting of thorns through osmosisThus she will live by it with a smile nursing the swollen heartMy cry of play will pin her more down the drain of tears

There will be more questions than answers by the sight of manThorns of truth assuaged by the visitation of the familiarThe sun will set cutting the light of dayPitting mother against the wall of truthSubjecting her to the endless cry of the fatherless childN Nkuna,4 June 2013